Improvement in fences



P. KIRBY.

v FENCES No. 190,339.- Patented May 1, 1877.

I 2 ly z/ G, 6! 0 a l l I I "4%; a I F 7 i k 7 WITNESSES NFEIERS. PHOYO-UTHOGRAPHER. WASH NGYON D C .1f PHILIP" snn cn tarts-ism IYORKA TIIMIBRVEMFN W I Specification forming part of Letters. Patent'No, l90 ,33 9:, datedjMay:l, 118 77} application filed Marohf3, 1877.;j -1

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PHILIP KIRBY, of Seneca Falls, in the county of Seneca and State of New York, have inventeda new and "aluable Improvement in Fences; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being bad to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of a top view of my improved fence. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the anchor.

This invention has relation to improvements in portable fences, and in means whereby the sections are anchored to the ground and prevented from being overturned by high winds.

The nature of my invention consists in the combination, with a fence having an inwardly and outwardly extended transverse base or foot, of an anchoring device, consisting of an oblong angular metallic plate, adapted to embrace two sides of the sill of the foot, and a drive-pin of angular form, embracing the two remaining sides of the said sill, and extending through a perforation in the said plate.

It also consists in the novel construction and arrangement of a fence-panel, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

1n the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates a panel of a portable fence, consisting of the end posts a a and longitudinal boards b b, secured thereto by bolts 0. The boards d of the adjoining panel are secured to the said posts, upon opposite sides from boards b b, by the said bolts, and they are clamped against the same by means of nuts d, tapped upon the projecting ends of the said bolts. Post a, which, in the drawing, is at the corner, is in cross-section of the general shape of the letter Lthat is, it is composed of two wings, cc, forming any angle with each other, according to the angularity of the corner ends of the lot to be inclosed. When this post is employed the boards b b will be secured to one wing, and those beyond the corner to the other by separate and distinct bolts, as shown at ff in the drawings. These posts,

at their lower ends, are angularly and trans versely notched, as shown at g, Fig. 2, and in these notches are seated and rigidly secured, in any suitable manner, beams B, which constitute the sill of a triangular base or foot, 0, which, besides the sills aforesaid, is composed of two inclined notched side braces, h, secured at their upper and lower ends, respectively, to the post and sill. By this means the sill B is made to present one an gular face upward and the other downward, and the latter is made to take proper hold upon the soil, for purpose of preventing endwise displacement. E represents the anchoring device, consisting of an angular metallic driveplate, '0 and a preferably round angular drivespike, j, the former having a perforation, Z, through which the latter readily passes. The short arm i of plate 'iiS equal in length to the Width of one of the upper faces of the sill, as will be also the corresponding arm j of the spikej, while the long arms k k thereof will be regulated by the nature of the soil, being of greater length in light sandy earths than in stifi' clays. In applying my anchor the drive-plate iwill be first forced into the ground, in an inclined position, until its short arm c" is brought snugly in contact with one of the faces of the sill. The end of the spike j is then passed through perforation l in plate 11 aforesaid, and driven into the ground on the other side of the sill, in an inclined position, until its shorter armj abuts against the remaining upper face of the sill. In this position the sill will be inclined in an eye, n, at the upper end of the anchoring device, and the longer arms of the plate and spike, forming an expanded foot outward and downward, will take such hold upon the ground as to render the overturning of the fence practically impossible.

G represent inclined braces, secured on opposite sides of the fence to the boards b b by means of removable bolts 0, and to the board b and each other by a bolt and nut, 11 q. These braces sustain the middle portion of the panel, and prevent it from sagging or warping; When the fence is taken apart for removal, bolts 0 only are removed, and the braces are turned upon bolt 10 as a pivot until they coincide with the board I), when the combined parts will assume a compact form, and

may be stowed away in a comparatively small space.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a portable fence, the combination of the angular drive-plate it, having a perforation, Z, and the angular drive-spike j j, with the edgewise-arranged sill B, substantially as specified.

2. The fence-panel consisting of the uprights a a, the spaced horizontal rails b b, the crossed inclined braces G G, having pivot-bolt p and fixing-bolts 0, whereby they are secured in position, the sills B, inclined braces h, the angu- PHILIP KIRBY.

Witnesses:

JACOB H. OORL, N. P. B. WE Ls. 

